Masjed Shah

Masjed Shah

History

The mosque was commissioned by Shah Abbasi , who in 1611 ordered the start of work. At that time the Shah had already completed 52 years, allowing him to see the completion of his work was introduced for the first time in Iran the technique of pre-painted tiles to assemble then according to the established model. This choice was crucial, in fact the traditional techniques available were complex mosaics made with millions of individual tiles, or the decorations are painted directly on the walls (just the palace of Ali Qapu on the west side of the square, has decorations of this type). Through this innovation already in 1629 (18 years after the start of construction), the mosque was largely completed, although work continued until 1638. The asymmetrical plan of the mosque is due to a double alignment: The portal is oriented towards the square, the mosque instead in the direction of Mecca (Richard 1999).

Architecture

The portal of the building is 27 meters high and is flanked by two minarets of 42 meters. All the walls of the building are decorated with mosaic tiles of seven colors with a remarkable optical effect. The entrance door, wooden, covered in layers of silver and gold, and is decorated with some poems written in calligraphic nastaliq. The mosque has 4 Iwan or mihrab, of which the largest is the one that indicates the direction of Mecca. Behind it is a space covered with the largest dome in the city, 52 m high (Nasrollah 2001). The architects of the mosque were:

Ustad Ali Akbar Isfahani

Ustad Fereydun Naini

Ustad Shoja Isfahani

The mosque in the history

In 1051 Isfahan became the capital of the Seljuk, who arrived in Khwarezm and Transoxiana from Central Asia in the eleventh century. Of Sunni faith, they aimed at the restoration of the Abbasid Caliphate. The conquest of Isfahan by Toghrul Beg raised the prestige of the city, whose new status was expressed through an elaborate architectural plan. The power of the Empire Seljuk found practical expression in a series of buildings, of which the most important was the mosque (Jakub & Monumente 2008). The Seljuks designed the city center and the square next to the existing mosque on Friday, which bordered on the north side of these spaces. In later life, the ruler of the Safavid Shah Abbas would replace the original center with his new maydan (square), completed in 1602, moving the core of the city to the south. Many historians consider the Shah mosque, the epitome of Safavid Seljuk period-and the heart of the city pre-Abbasid (Architecture of Islam 2006). Historical records give conflicting information about the condition of the mosque during the Seljuk period. The renowned geographer and historian Yaqut al-Hamawi says that the population of Isfahan was forced to demolish the temple “for lack of wood” in 1051, when the city was conquered by Toghrul Beg. The guide to Naser-e Khosrow writes instead that the mosque was “large and magnificent” around 1052 (Jakub & Monumente ...